Military formation
| Military organization | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Typical units | Typical numbers | Typical commander |
| fireteam | 3–4 | corporal |
|
squad/ section |
8–12 | sergeant |
| platoon | 15–30 | lieutenant |
| company | 80–150 | captain/major |
|
battalion/ cohort |
300–800 | lieutenant colonel |
|
regiment/ brigade |
2,000–4,000 |
colonel/ brigadier general |
|
division/ legion |
10,000–15,000 | major general |
| corps | 20,000–40,000 | lieutenant general |
| field army | 80,000+ | general |
| army group | 2+ field armies |
field marshal/ five-star general |
|
region/ theater |
4+ army groups | Six-star rank/Head of state |
Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer military capability required by the national defense policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces, though not considered military. Armed forces that are not a part of military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often mimic military organizations, or use ad hoc structures.
Military organization is hierarchical. The use of formalized ranks in a hierarchical structure came into widespread use with the Roman Army. In modern times, executive control, management and administration of military organization is typically undertaken by the government through a government department within the structure of public administration, often known as a Ministry of Defense, Department of Defense, or Department of War. These in turn manage Armed Services that themselves command combat, combat support and combat service support formations and units.
The usually civilian or partly civilian executive control over the national military organization is exercised in democracies by an elected political leader as a member of the government's Cabinet, usually known as a Minister of Defense. (In presidential systems, such as the United States, the president is the commander-in-chief, and the cabinet-level defense minister is second in command.) Subordinated to that position are often Secretaries for specific major operational divisions of the armed forces as a whole, such as those that provide general support services to the Armed Services, including their dependants.
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Wikipedia